Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) Shares Sold by Premier Fund Managers Ltd

Premier Fund Managers Ltd reduced its position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 35.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 130,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 69,949 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises about 1.7% of Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $44,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Motco boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 700.0% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David S. Johnson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.04, for a total value of $342,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 45,323 shares in the company, valued at $15,502,278.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan E. Pietrucha sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.13, for a total value of $4,645,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,109,256.33. This represents a 53.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $8,528,080 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $346.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $326.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $372.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $322.31.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:AJG opened at $309.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $322.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $323.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.74 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $274.25 and a 1 year high of $351.23.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 14.83% and a net margin of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.45 earnings per share. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.63%.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Profile

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.